Ang 658

RAAG SORAT’H, THE WORD OF DEVOTEE RAVI DAAS JEE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: When I am in my ego, then You are not with me. Now that You are with me, there is no egotism within me. The wind may raise up huge waves in the vast ocean, but they are just water in water. ||1|| O Lord, what can I say about such an illusion? Things are not as they seem. ||1|| Pause|| It is like the king, who falls asleep upon his throne, and dreams that he is a beggar. His kingdom is intact, but separated from it, he suffers in sorrow. Such is my own condition. ||2|| Like the story of the rope mistaken for a snake, the mystery has now been explained to me. Like the many bracelets, which I mistakenly thought were gold; now, I do not say what I said then. ||3|| The One Lord is pervading the many forms; He enjoys Himself in all hearts. Says Ravi Daas, the Lord is nearer than our own hands and feet. Whatever will be, will be. ||4||1|| If I am bound by the noose of emotional attachment, then I shall bind You, Lord, with the bonds of love. Go ahead and try to escape, Lord; I have escaped by worshipping and adoring You. ||1|| O Lord, You know my love for You. Now, what will You do? ||1|| Pause|| A fish is caught, cut up, and cooked it in many different ways. Bit by bit, it is eaten, but still, it does not forget the water. ||2|| The Lord, our King, is father to no one, except those who love Him. The veil of emotional attachment has been cast over the entire world, but it does not bother the Lord’s devotee. ||3|| Says Ravi Daas, my devotion to the One Lord is increasing; now, who can I tell this to? That which brought me to worship and adore You — I am still suffering that pain. ||4||2||

I obtained this precious human life as a reward for my past actions, but without discriminating wisdom, it is wasted in vain. Tell me, without devotional worship of the Lord, of what use are mansions and thrones like those of King Indra? ||1|| You have not considered the sublime essence of the Name of the Lord, our King; this sublime essence shall cause you to forget all other essences. ||1|| Pause|| We do not know what we need to know, and we have become insane. We do not consider what we should consider; our days are passing away. Our passions are strong, and our discriminating intellect is weak; we have no access to the supreme objective. ||2|| We say one thing, and do something else; entangled in endless Maya, we do not understand anything. Says Ravi Daas, Your slave, O Lord, I am disillusioned and detached; please, spare me Your anger, and have mercy on my soul. ||3||3|| He is the ocean of peace; the miraculous tree of life, the wish-fulfilling jewel, and the Kaamadhayna, the cow which fulfills all desires, all are in His power. The four great blessings, the eighteen supernatural spiritual powers of the Siddhas, and the nine treasures, are all in the palm of His hand. ||1|| You do not chant with your tongue the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, Har. Abandon your involvement in all other words. ||1|| Pause|| The various Shaastras, Puranaas, and the Vedas of Brahma, are made up of thirty-four letters. After deep contemplation, Vyaas spoke of the supreme objective; there is nothing equal to the Lord’s Name. ||2|| Very fortunate are those who are absorbed in celestial bliss, and released from their entanglements; they are lovingly attached to the Lord. Says Ravi Daas, enshrine the Lord’s Light within your heart, and your fear of birth and death shall run away from you. ||3||4|| If You are the mountain, Lord, then I am the peacock. If You are the moon, then I am the partridge in love with it. ||1|| O Lord, if You will not break with me, then I will not break with You. For, if I were to break with You, with whom would I then join? ||1|| Pause||

If You are the lamp, then I am the wick. If You are the sacred place of pilgrimage, then I am the pilgrim. ||2|| I am joined in true love with You, Lord. I am joined with You, and I have broken with all others. ||3|| Wherever I go, there I serve You. There is no other Lord Master than You, O Divine Lord. ||4|| Meditating, vibrating upon You, the noose of death is cut away. To attain devotional worship, Ravi Daas sings to You, Lord. ||5||5|| The body is a wall of water, supported by the pillars of air; the egg and sperm are the mortar. The framework is made up of bones, flesh and veins; the poor soul-bird dwells within it. ||1|| O mortal, what is mine, and what is yours? The soul is like a bird perched upon a tree. ||1|| Pause|| You lay the foundation and build the walls. But in the end, three and a half cubits will be your measured space. ||2|| You make your hair beautiful, and wear a stylish turban on your head. But in the end, this body shall be reduced to a pile of ashes. ||3|| Your palaces are lofty, and your brides are beautiful. But without the Lord’s Name, you shall lose the game entirely. ||4|| My social status is low, my ancestry is low, and my life is wretched. I have come to Your Sanctuary, O Luminous Lord, my King; so says Ravi Daas, the shoemaker. ||5||6|| I am a shoemaker, but I do not know how to mend shoes. People come to me to mend their shoes. ||1|| Pause|| I have no awl to stitch them; I have no knife to patch them. ||1|| Mending, mending, people waste their lives and ruin themselves. Without wasting my time mending, I have found the Lord. ||2|| Ravi Daas chants the Lord’s Name; he is not concerned with the Messenger of Death. ||3||7||